Yes indeed, 1188 did mentor students in South Africa this past season.
For the first year of our relationship, the students became part of our team. The intent was for them to build a mirror robot in SA, but it was not possible to get parts to them. They worked on our website, animation, and a safety presentation. In addition, they became part of our Chairman's presentation via a video recording.
5 team members and the coach were able to visit with us for about 10 days before the Championship, and then travel with us to Atlanta. However 9 additional team members and several mentors were not able to afford the trip. Airfare was about $2500 per person.
In addition to being a part of 1188, the SA students were also an FLL team competing in the World Festival. In many countries that do not have FRC, the age limit for FLL is increased a year or two, which is what SA does. However these students are either at or approaching that age limit, and they will be looking at competing in FRC.
The goal is to get an FRC regional in Africa. There already is a regional in Isreal. I believe there will soon be a regional in Europe, as there is a very strong FLL presence there and that would be the next developmental step for those students. There were 5 FRC teams in Great Britain this year, including 4 rookies - they may be instrumental in getting a regional going there. I've also heard that a regional is desired in Brazil, which currently has 5 teams.
There are many areas around the world where FIRST could expand. In Asia, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China have FLL teams, plus Isreal and Jordan in the Mideast. Those would be natural areas for expansion of FRC. In addition, there should be great opportunities for FIRST in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zeeland, and in the rest of Latin America. FLL is the obvious first step, as there are far less costs involved to get programs and competitions going.
FLL has a "Contact Us" page -
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/default.aspx?pid=7350 - where you could inquire whether there is an "FLL Partner" for any country in which you are interested. FLL Partners are the organizers for teams and tournaments in their countries. There was talk at the World Festival of a new Parnter somewhere in South America, but I can't remember what country.